Pharmacophore an International Research Journal
Approximately 580,000 people undergo bariatric surgery annually, it’s currently considered the most effective treatment for class III obesity. Stigmatized by many as the “easy way out” it’s unclear whether people are aware of bariatric surgery-related complications. This paper aims to assess the public’s awareness levels of indications and complications regarding bariatric surgery. A cross-sectional study was conducted among the general public in Saudi Arabia including all Saudis aged 18 years and older. Data collection was conducted through self-administered questionnaires. The sample size was calculated manually using the infinite population formula with a standard deviation of 1.96 for a 95% confidence interval and a maximum accepted marginal error of 0.05, Data was transferred to the Statistical Package of Social Science Software (SPSS) program, version 20 (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.), to be statistically analyzed. The study included 412 participants, 50.5% of whom were males. 80.6% of the respondents knew someone who had undergone bariatric surgery, and 96.1% of those individuals lost weight after the operation. 96.6% of the respondents have heard of these procedures. Only 43.2% had good knowledge scores regarding bariatric surgeries, 52.9% had moderate knowledge, and 3.9% had poor knowledge scores. In conclusion, Saudi public awareness of indications and complications regarding bariatric surgeries is poor. a critical issue that requires attention and action. Knowledge scores were associated with the male gender.
